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A User-Friendly Program
to Improve Our Davening |
If you ask most people about their davening they will lament or at least acknowledge that it could be better. Our minds wander, we say things by rote, and there may be whole sections of tefilah we don’t understand or connect to in a meaningful way. There is a wealth of seforim, shiurim and meforshim on tefilah which provide inspiration to deepen our connection to tefilah. The inspiration gleaned from these sources can be powerful and lasting but may also become rote as time passes.
Eis Ratzon aspires to provide the tools to enable one to refresh their tefilah daily in a meaningful and yet manageable regimen for even the busiest schedules.
The fact is, we have already made a significant time commitment to tefilah. Davening three times daily adds up to approximately 500+ hours a year - that is 21 full days or 62 eight hour days a year! In just a few minutes a day we can upgrade those 500 hours of tefilah from a burden to an offering that is pleasing to Hashem AND to ourselves!
Rav Yeruchem said the best place to put effort is into something you are doing anyways.
By joining the program one is making a conscious commitment to pro-actively improve their davening - an important step in itself.
Focusing on at least the one component of the daily limud in our davening will inevitably open the door to more kavanah in other parts of davening as well. The program will cover the weekday davening from beginning to end. Ideally, the daily limud will be fresh enough to not become rote and bring us to a higher engagement in our davening. The ultimate reward is one we all aspire to - more meaningful tefila and a deeper relationship with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The few extra minutes a day offers exponential returns.
Eis Ratzon aspires to provide the tools to enable one to refresh their tefilah daily in a meaningful and yet manageable regimen for even the busiest schedules.
The fact is, we have already made a significant time commitment to tefilah. Davening three times daily adds up to approximately 500+ hours a year - that is 21 full days or 62 eight hour days a year! In just a few minutes a day we can upgrade those 500 hours of tefilah from a burden to an offering that is pleasing to Hashem AND to ourselves!
Rav Yeruchem said the best place to put effort is into something you are doing anyways.
By joining the program one is making a conscious commitment to pro-actively improve their davening - an important step in itself.
Focusing on at least the one component of the daily limud in our davening will inevitably open the door to more kavanah in other parts of davening as well. The program will cover the weekday davening from beginning to end. Ideally, the daily limud will be fresh enough to not become rote and bring us to a higher engagement in our davening. The ultimate reward is one we all aspire to - more meaningful tefila and a deeper relationship with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The few extra minutes a day offers exponential returns.
HOW IT WORKS
1. SIGN UP
- You will be assigned or join with a chavrusa
- Receive daily email.
2. DAILY LIMUD Sent via email or mail which includes:
- AUDIO SHIUR link to Tefila4Life (Rav Nachum Malinowitz)
3-4 minutes listening time - WRITTEN COMMENTARY, transcribed from audio shiur
2-4 minutes reading time - SUMMARY of the limud for quick chazara
10-20 seconds - SIMAN provided or create your own memory device for the core concept of the daily limud
which could be written into your siddur or used for chazara
- Think of the daily limud at the appropriate time in davening.
Your time is already dedicated for this.
- Chavrusa - exchange email or call that the limud was done
15 seconds - Once a week email, call or meet to share insights, experience.
0 - whatever you choose
SAMPLE LIMUD
SHIUR 1 W.1.1
AVODAH - WHAT IS THE POINT OF TEFILA
Chazal say that on Tisha b’Av Hashem doesnt listen to our tefilas, thats why we dont say tiskabel tzolason in kadesh because Hashem doesn’t listen to our tefilos then. After Tisha B’Av is the time to rejuvenate our tefila because now Hashem is listening to our tefila again. Parshas V’eschanan always comes after Tisha B’Av because it demonstrates the power of tefila when Moshe Rabeinu davened to try and get into Eretz Yisroel.
So we read this parsha now because now is the time to begin tefila again, when we begin the nechama from the chorbon Beis Hamikdash.
What are we trying to achieve here?
Rav Yeruchem said the best place to put effort is into something you are doing anyways.
And further, it is best to put effort into emuna and bitochan because all avodas Hashem incorporates them.
We daven to Hashem 3 times a day, and hopefully more than that when we are faced with different challenges in the day. It is difficult to add new things and work on many things at one time in our Avodas Hashem, but we are davening and using the power of tefilla anyways - if we put a bit of effort into the davening we are already doing anyways, we can produce tremendous results.
That is our objective – putting more feeling and meaning into our tefilas, and understand what we are doing and understand that Hashem is waiting and wanting our tefilas and He wants us to serve Him with our tefilla. After Tisha bav we have a special opportunity to restart our avodah from the destruction and to work on rebuilding. Contemplate the avoda they did in the beis hamikdash and internalize the concept of avodah which we now do three times a day in tefilla. We are serving Hashem. It’s not about achieving our goals and wants, which we will achieve through our tefilla, but the objective of tefilla is service to Hashem, avodas Hashem. The more we advance in our tefilla, the better our avoda to Hashem will be.
SUMMARY
Hashem destroyed the Beis Hamikdash, rejecting our avodah when it became empty and meaningless to us. Tefila replaced the avodah of the Beis Hamikdash and now, chazal say, on Tisha B’Av He doesn’t listen to our prayers. After Tisha B’Av it is a particlarly appropriate time for us to restart, rejuvenate our davening (which replaces the avodah in the Beis Hamikdash) to strive to ensure our avodah is meaningful and heartfelt so that it should be acceptable by Hashem.
NOTE/SIMAN
OUR TEFILA NEEDS TO BE PLEASING TO HASHEM = IT HAS TO BE MEANINGFUL
AUDIO LINK
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0cm5jPQV54bxySuVlAvAyI
ATTACHED PDF OF WEEK 1 FOR PRINTING